Saturday, 22 October 2011

Busko-Zdrój is a town in the South of Poland. It is most known for its health waters and related sanatoriums (health spas). What I liked best were the parks. Currently there are two "health spa" parks nowadays, located next to each other.

The so-called "New Park" is composed mainly of pitches and includes a nice lake.

There are lanes to walk through and benches to sit at.

On a sunny day you can also sit by this nice fountain - a very refreshing experience. But swimming and bathing is forbidden!

The "Old Park" resembles more to a little forest, with high old trees. The most important building in the Old Park is the monumental seat of the sanatorium built by the famous Italian architect Enrico Marconi. Actually, the sanatorium takes its name from this engineer.

Inside, the Marconi sanatorium looks impressive as well.

There are some statues, some columns and a fountain. You can almost imagine yourself in a little palace in Italy.

The sanatorium has its own concert hall. I sneaked there during lunch time, this is why it is empty. But in the evenings it is full of patients watching various concerts and shows.

During hot days the concerts are often played in the bandshell located in hearth of the Old Park.

If there is no concert, you may always sit on one of the benches and simply smell the flowers. The gardener is really doing a great job here.

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Bałtów is a small town in the South of Poland. It is famous for its Jurassic Park.

The JuraPark in Bałtów is a member of a network of European Dinosaur Parks. The network includes 15 parks in Europe (4 are located in Poland) that were created in places where traces of dinosaurs were found.

I've seen there many interresting dinosaurs, including a family of Triceratops. Even the young ones have some frightening hornes.

The Quetzalcoatlus looks like a flying dragon. Luckily it does not breath fire.

Sunday, 9 October 2011

Poland is a country that exists for over thousand years. Historically, it was created through a merger of 2 tribal states of Polanie ('people leaving in the fields) and Wiślanie ('people living close to the Vistula river'). Wiślica was the presumed capital of the country of Wiślanie.

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I liked best the stained glass-work. The walls are covered with religious paintings.

Next to the church you will find the house of a famous Polish historian Jan Długosz. He has written clonicles of the Polish state that are still a point of reference for those who study Polish history. He was also a personal tutor for the sons of the Poish King Casimir IV.

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Kurozwęki is a little village in the South of Poland. It is famous for its beautiful palace.

Before World War II, the palace belonged to a noble family. It was nationalised after the war and turned into a warehouse. The state did not care for the palace and it turned into ruins.

In 1991, the former owners regained the ownership of the palace and begun to refurbish it. Now, you can admire the palace in its beauty and even visit some exhibitions presenting old weapons and instruments of torture. Luckily, they are not used anymore so I could safely walk on them. Here you can see a cannon.

And here the stocks. In Middle Ages criminals had to sit locked in such stocks for days. The crowd would then mock them and throw thing at them.

The palace is surrounded by a nice garden in which you will find a mini-zoo. It includes animals that normally do not live in poland, like ostriches with their long necks.

But also thos that are typical for Poland like the bizons.

Some of the animals seem really hungy. I was slightly scared to be honest - who knows, maybe they are hungry enough to eat horses? This fence does not look solid enough.

Others animals seemed to be deeply in love, like this pair of donkeys.